Taking a Day for God

 

June 29

 Our men’s group facilitator says, "Take a day this week and let it be God's day. Say, ‘God this is your day, it all belongs to You.' Let God control the day. Experience His grace. Listen.      

 Of all the days God has been with me, finally I'm proclaiming a day for God. Tomorrow is God’s day.

 "Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)

                             Julie's Prayer

 June 28

 She fled to Florida by bus with one suitcase. Julie didn’t give her last name still fearing reprisals from her abuser.

“I needed a car and prayed specifically for a clean four-dour Camry, so I could take people to church. "And God I prefer a brown or beige one."

 

An organization which receives donated cars, calls her. When she arrives she sees truly a gift from God waiting. It was a Camry, four-door, beige and fresh from the car wash.

 “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22)

Are You in a Bad Place?

 June 27

 “I’m in a bad place,” After listening to his story Joy kneels before him and prays. He sits stiffly, his wife cries.

 At communion a month later our pastor invites all. “I want you to feel welcomed with a hug from the Lord himself.” Our friend comes down the isle tears streaming down his face and wraps his arms around an elder at the communion table and bawls. He is with his God again.

 “God brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet on a rock, and established my steps.”(Psalm 40:2)

                                         Positive Strokes

 

June 26

We all need encouragement.

We are attending a new church in Osprey. The pastor is inexperienced. One day we agree not to second-guess this young enthusiastic pastor's sermons but to be part of his support team.

 

At the next service we sit in the second row smiling.(Not my gifting) We beam during the young pastor’s message. He pauses, and says, "At times I see the radiance of God in other people, like right now I see God in the faces of Mal and Joy." 

 

Go Figure!  

 "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)

 

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only

what is helpful for building up others that it my benefit those who listen."

(Ephesians 4:29)

A Message from Johnson's Bench

Weekend of June 22

 We call it Johnson’s Bench. It sits in a cemetery in Newington ,CT. The inscription reads:

“Sit ye here at sunset and dusk

Far from the maddening crowd.

With this peaceful tranquility

Commune with God.”

 

Joy and I would do that from this bench. The Johnson grave markers record the passage of human time while the trees indicate the change of the seasons.

 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” (Matt 24:35)

 



 

 

 

We have been warned

 

June 21

 Today is the longest day of the year. The days will start getting shorter again. It is the order of our universe, happens every year.

 

 The Bible tells us that this order will all come to an abrupt end someday.

 This dire prediction takes on a distinct probability since astronomers discovered a huge asteroid falling through space, which could collide with our planet later in this millennium. We have been warned.

 “And the stars from heaven fell… and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.” (Revelation 7:13-14.)

What to do? Read 2Peter:3:14,17-18NIV)



                                         Yard Sale

 June 20

 This isn’t your typical yard sale. All he owns is in the front yard. He is desperate. 

He has six dollars and won't see a pay check for a week. He needs gas to get to work Monday,

his water bill is overdue and he has a needed prescription waiting. 

 

 When I arrive he asks, “will you pray with me? I’m upset.” I ask the Lord to help my friend through this. Two hours later his phone rings. He returns saying, “That was a lady who wants me to paint her house. I gave her a bid four months ago and she calls today.” Go Figure! My friend tears up and so do I. The yard sale is over.

 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:30)



 

 

"Are You in Ministry?"

 

June 19

 

"I think I know you," the man at the next table stated, "are you in ministry?"

 "I'm not ordained," and wondered immediately why I said that. It sounded so awkward. He didn't ask me if I was a minister. He asked if I was in ministry. "You remind him of someone," his wife said, covering her husband's embarrassment and ending the conversation.

 

Aren't all believers expected to be in ministry? I should have said yes.

"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us,

(2 Corinthians 5:20)



 

 

Quote of the week:

 

"If God is your co-pilot

change seats."



A Dad's Precious Memories

Weekend of June 15

 

Some of my fondest memories didn't come of Father's Day but when I least expected.

A four year boy runs up and grabbing my leg says, "Isn't this fun dad? You and me in the woods picking up sticks to make a campfire."

 

A ten-year old jumps into my arms when his team scores the winning basket in overtime.

 

A young girl, now grown, says in one of those special conversations, "Thanks dad for being my friend."

 

A college age daughter that I acquired when I married Joy wrote, "Thank you for all your support and advice, I 've been needing a Dad for a long time and I rejoice in being able to call you Dad." 

 

Now I understand better how our heavenly Father felt when I said, "This is my son in whom I am well pleased. HEAR HIM! (Matthew 17:5)



Loving the Wrong Things

 

June 14

I had other things that I loved more than God, like money, sex, sports, recognition,

alcohol and tobacco. I spent more time pursuing these than I did the Lord.

 

God sent me a gentle soul who shared with me that by asking the Lord Jesus into my life as my Lord and Savior, I would  "be born again of the Spirit." I did, was baptized, and became a new creation and its beautifully awesome. I see the hand of God everywhere.

 

Jesus said. "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you that you must be born again." (John 3: 5-7)



 

 

 

Reflections, What Do You See?

 

 

 

 Dilly, the drake, died.. Daffy Duck, his mate, was devastated and would spend hours in front of our cellar window quacking at her reflection. We ended her loneliness by taking her out to a farm with other ducks.

Years later a robin was throwing itself at  our front window. I called the Wild Bird Center and was told that male robins are territorial during mating season. 

 

 

The duck saw her reflection as a friend, the robin saw his as an enemy. What do I see when I look in the glass? What do I do then?

 "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was."

(1 James 1:23-24)





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is your Passion? 

June13,2018

I have a friend who is a financial planner. I have to call weeks in advance to schedule a lunch date. Yet someone will call and invite him to go fly fishing in Belize and he is on the next plane. He literally will drop everything to go fly fishing.

 

  Peter dropped his nets when he heard the Lord say, “follow me.”

Am I ready to do the same? Will I have the same passion for my Lord as my friend does for fly-fishing?  Am I ready to drop whatever I'm doing and follow Him  when He calls, for a week on a mission trip, for a day of service or witnessing to someone for an hour?

 

"Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Mark 8:34)

                                                        Who do you Trust?
                                                      
Tuesday, June 12

Jeremiah said: Thus says the Lord: Cursed are the persons who trusts in man, and make flesh their strength and their heart departs from the Lord. They "+will be like a shrub in the desert."(17:6)

I read these words and a light bulb goes on in my feeble brain. That is my problem. I have been trusting in man. I am judging my life by the world's standard and what other people think. No wonder I feel like a "shrub in the desert."

I need to trust in the Lord Who, "will lead me by still waters."(Psalm 23)

"Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river." (Jeremiah 17: 7-8)

Have a blessed day. Peace